Leveraging Data Management to Achieve a GradNation: A webinar hosted by America's Promise Alliance in partnership with nFocus Solutions

As we've seen across the nation, data management systems can support community efforts to provide cradle-to-career services that improve the educational achievement and healthy development of children particularly in our most distressed communities. This webinar illustrated how these data systems can support community efforts to build systems of comprehensive services to ensure all students are on track to graduate from high school college and career ready and explored the role that funding agencies can play in driving this community change.Webinar presenters included: Bob Beechum, Director of Data and Research with Building Bright Futures who spoke about how he is using his experience with information systems to help provide comprehensive support to students in Omaha, NE; Ann Hilbig, Vice President of Program Planning for Neighborhood Centers Inc. who explored the role that data management will play in the Promise Neighborhood implementation plan being developed in Houston, TX; Edwin I. Hernández, who is a Senior Program Officer at the DeVos Family Foundations talked about Believe2Become (B2B), which is a placed-based initiative aimed at eliminating the achievement gap for children living in four contiguous under-resourced urban neighborhoods in Grand Rapids, MI; and Betty Morgan, Executive Director of the Grad Nation campaign for America’s Promise who described the data management efforts in Washington County Schools, MD where as superintendent she helped the high-poverty, Appalachian mountain school district to improve from an 80 percent graduation rate to 92 percent.